


Disintegration

by shelllhead



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Dubious Consent, M/M, Maria isn't killed in the car crash, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Tony makes Bad Decisions, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, because Tiberius, dark at times, everyone loves tony, protective peggy, they are a family, young Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-06 11:03:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11599308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shelllhead/pseuds/shelllhead
Summary: The Soldier recognizes Maria Stark as the mother of the child he was ordered to observe many years ago, resulting in a series of unexpected events that lead to the eventual demise of the carefully crafted future HYDRA had planned for him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy and feel free to comment, I love comments.  
> The title is a song from The Cure.

_Mission Code: NR498#. Project Genius Recruit. Current Time: 2400. February 14, 1976. Mission Objective: Retrieve Anthony Edward Stark. Age: 6._

Asset tucked his rifle back into its holster, the metal arm whirring in an almost agony-like sound, signaling the near overlapping of the plates that will surely result in punishment since the last repairs had lasted only for a week, due to his handler's inability- _do not question the handler_ \- to fix the nerve endings that were attached to the seam. The handler was inexperienced, and the rapidly developing technology required someone... invaluable. 

This development, most of it if not all, was attributed to the genius of Howard Stark, the man had redefined the era with his unusual mind and his keen attitude towards weapon manufacturing and war profiteering. Howard Stark was smart, and resourceful, but he would not make a good handler for the Soldier. He was old, therefore not impressionable, hard to threaten into submission. Even if HYDRA somehow managed to get Stark to work for them as the Asset's handler, he would die of old age soon. HYDRA needed something permanent. Bright and brilliant. Young. 

The son.

Anthony.

_Tony_ , the Asset’s mind supplied, as he had come to call him in the last year he had watched the boy grow and manifest his genius in several areas including taking apart everything he could get his hands on and fixing problems that didn't even exist. He was bright already, perhaps brighter than Howard Stark himself. Only time would tell.

He was only a kid. 

Asset was supposed to take him. Against his will. From the arms of his mother.

Maria Stark was a different story altogether. Asset had observed her out of necessity, because she was almost always with her son, loving and encouraging, and from what the Asset had studied of love- Maria Stark loved his son more than anything. Howard Stark was rarely home, Asset had noted once, looking through the North Atlantic Ocean with a misplaced hope that he would be able to recover an old friend. 

Asset did not understand these concepts. He did not know of love, nor did he understand it. But he had studied it in the expression of Maria Stark's face when the boy showed her a radio he had fixed in an hour with his little hands smudged with black grease, and the delightful squeals the boy made when he was being tickled by his mother, pretending to hate the attention while craving it. The Asset had studied it in the tired lines of Maria Stark's face, still willing to put up with his son's antics when the boy was being a brat, and her proud and confident eyes that the boy took after her- big, brown and always in fluid motion.

Asset admired the woman. 

It was an alien, an unwelcome feeling. 

It was a _feeling_.

Asset did not have those. _Was not supposed to- was not- was not-_

His body stilled and his eyes focused on the scope’s lens once again when an unfamiliar figure entered his line of sight, the metal hand gripping the edge of the roof to stop himself from disassociating. The boy might need him. 

The new woman- with wavy red-brown hair with whites among it, brown eyes that were slightly wrinkly on the sides, strong cheekbones and the walk of someone who had been in the military, fierce and beautiful- scooped the boy up in her arms and started kissing his cheeks as the boy giggled in delight. He had called her _Aunt Peggy_ if the Asset was not mistaken in his lip-reading. He could be rusty, but the name had a familiar ring to his ears. He would have to look it up, or ask one of his handlers- he could be glitching. 

He had kept his newfound admiration for Maria Stark and his fondness for the boy a secret from them in fears of the unfamiliar feelings- something that was part of himself- could be taken away from him. He had disobeyed. He had deserved punishment. He needed to be wiped.

Wiped. _Wiped-wiped- the chair-_

Dangerous.

_Mission Code: SH50016#. Mission Objective: Eliminate Margaret Elizabeth Carter aka Peggy Carter aka Agent Carter. Founder of SHIELD. Current Age: 50. Status: Failed._

Asset growled lowly, the rifle raised again and hand lingering on the trigger, almost shaking with the anticipation of finishing a job failed. Failed repeatedly. He could finish it now. The ball room was emptying, Maria Stark and Peggy Carter hugging like old friends who had not seen each other in over a year, the boy wedging himself between them, demanding the attention on himself, looking fragile in his little black suit, repeatedly tangling himselfup in his mother’s long, elegant, red dress. 

It would have been so easy. Pulling the trigger, watching the bullet pass through Agent Carter's wide forehead, staining her blood orange dress with splashes of darkening red. Asset's hand twitched.

The boy started getting frustrated at something. Agent Carter petted his head with affection that was also present in her eyes.

Love.

She was family. She loved Tony too, like Maria Stark.

Asset put the gun back on himself, and smashed the scope to the ground. He curled his metal arm to hear the plates whirring, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through his shoulder every time he moved the arm.

He wasn't going to take the boy and let HYDRA use him for his brilliant mind. He had decided this.

 

_HYDRA FILE #847 FOR MISSION NR498#_

_Mission Objective: Retrieve Anthony Edward Stark. Son of Howard Stark. Age 6._

_Mission Summary: After a year of monitoring the child, Winter Soldier reported that he is in fact unfit for duty, and unable to manifest himself in the areas his father is famous for. The investment HYDRA had originally planned to make could be used in better areas._

_Case file is closed._

_11 years later_

"I don't know, Rhodey. He said _astrophysics_. I specifically remember him using _stellar oscillations_. How could I be not seduced by that?" Tony huffed as he circled a hand around his coffee mug, already cold from his long, detailed monologue about how great Tiberius was in bed when he wasn't busy being an absolute asshole to everyone, and especially to him. He pulled the wooden chair he was sitting on closer to the table to place his elbows on it, sighing over-dramatically.

"I don't care about stellar oscillations- no, don't make that face, I don't- I care about _you_." That shut Tony up, because he had a handful of people in the campus who actually cared about him and saw him as an equal whereas most of the college kids looked down on him since he was still 17- like that stopped him from being an actual adult-, even though he was way more smart than them. 

Rhodey was his rock here, someone who supported him and defended him when he didn't have the guts the do it himself. But he mostly did- and it manifested itself in getting into various fights with people older and stronger than him.

Or worse- according to Rhodey- in bed with him.

It was safe to say that these will-power testing situations got Rhodey frustrated, but Tony considered himself lucky since Rhodey still didn't seem to be leaving. 

Take Tiberius. At age 23, doing his master's, smart, muscly, handsome, resourceful, and an absolute human garbage- last one being Rhodey's addition, after a lot of insisting, to the list. 

Tony had to admit Ty could be an asshole, but one needed to make sacrifices for amazing, mind-blowing sex.

“He’s fine.” Eyebrows raised defiantly, arms crossed stubbornly- Tony’s tendency to deny his self-destructive ways was overly familiar to Rhodey. 

“Fine? He smacked your ass and told you to go get him a drink the other day. How is that fine? You’d try to punch anyone else who did that. And fail- but your inability to fight is not our issue at the moment-”

Tony faked an offended face at that, hand going up to his heart as he gasped. “Rhodeybear, the things you say to me. If you are jealous because he gets to touch my ass, you know you are always allowed to-”

“Tony.”

“-because you will always be the love of my life and-”

_“Tony.”_

Eyes going anywhere but Rhodey’s face, Tony pushed his glasses up his nose, wedging his foot under his thigh as it dangled off the chair. 

“It’s nothing serious. Just a bit of fun- I’m not going to marry him.” Tony huffed out, growing irritation clear in his voice- a sense of final note in his words. He would never lash out at Rhodey, he had come to know that Rhodey always had a point in what he said- and that he wanted what was best for Tony.

Tony didn’t deserve him. 

He knew this, because he knew himself and his desires as well as something hidden within him that waited to be revealed by correct circumstances- something inconvenient and not at all benevolent. Attracting trouble and being attracted to trouble was a consequence of that, he had come to realise. Rhodey sensed it too. Bless his heart, he had never held it against Tony or judged him for it- but rather, had grown protective over time.

Rhodey wasn’t finished with this, Tony could tell, but he let it go with a sigh- taking Tony’s and his cup to the kitchen refill it.

His phone started buzzing and the unpleasant thoughts momentarily vanished, his focus zeroing on the name on his screen. His whole face lighted up.

“Aunt Peggy!” The exclamation in his voice was childish, he was aware of it, but it had always been that way since he was no more than an annoying, drooling and needy kid. Well, he supposed he wasn’t so different now.

“Anthony.” 

The smile on his face fell, the last time he had heard Aunt Peggy sound like that was when Tony had been just saved from a kidnapping attempt when he was seven.

He waited.

“Steve is coming to pick you up. There has been an accident.”

Tony’s heart thumped against his chest, the hand he held the phone in shaking as fear took hold of his body. “Mom?” He asked, voice trembling. 

“Maria is going to be alright.” Tony took a relieved breath- but he knew there was more to it, his eyes filling up already- and he closed his eyes for what was coming.

“Howard-” A hitched breath and a pause. “He is dead.”

******************

_Ten hours ago_

Asset watched as the car took a wrong turn and crashed into the nearest tree, a blow that would surely harm its passengers- but would not kill them. That was Asset’s job. 

_Mission code: DL#77329. Mission Objective: Eliminate Howard Stark and any witnesses. Mission Status: In progress._

He dragged the man- white hair, aging, familiar- out of the car. He did not give it a second thought as he smashed his face with his metal hand. The man did not stand a chance. This was supposed to be an accident, so he placed the now dead man on the driver’s seat again before squinting. 

There was a woman. She was scared, and she was staring at the dead man, muttering his name.

_Eliminate any witnesses._

The Asset walked around the car to wrench open the door to the passenger’s seat, and placed his metal hand on the woman’s throat. He started squeezing.

“Tony- God, Tony-” The woman was in shock.

“Tony- _mio figlio_ -”

The Asset hesitated. This name sounded familiar. His hand had stopped squeezing the woman’s throat and his head was hurting. 

_Eliminate Howard Stark._

_Stark._

_Anthony._

_Maria Stark._

_The mother of the boy._

_Eliminate witnesses- any witnesses- the mission-_

The Asset pulled his hand away with a pained cry, hands going up to his head to stop the sudden pangs of pain that shot through his brain at the reemerging memories of a tiny child and his mother who would do _anything- anything- anything_

The Asset remembered her. 

When the police and the ambulance came, the Asset watched from the hill, a promise ringing in his ears. 

_Mission objective: Protect Anthony Edward Stark. Priority: High._

He had decided this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's self-destructive search for revenge.

The shuffle of the covers under his head made Tony jerk up, frantic in his movements as his eyes searched his mother’s face, hand tucked into hers and a very familiar fond smile from her- but with a hint of sadness in it. Slowing down his breathing, Tony squeezed her hand, relieved to see her awake at last.

“Mom.” Tony breathed out, tears welling up in his eyes as he opened his mouth. “Father-”

“I know, Bambi. I know.” Her voice was soothing and her eyes still had their spark even after what had happened. Tony wondered how she could still be stronger than him after what happened, how she was the one to soothe him and not the other way around.

Tony never had a good relationship with his father. He was glad his mother was the one to survive- and he would make the decision easily any day, but the grief was like a heavy atmosphere circling his heart, all the way into his stomach, emerging as anger towards his father. He was probably drinking again, risking their life in such a foolish way-

“It wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t drunk, Tony. There was a-” Maria gulped, eyelashes fluttering against her pale skin repeatedly as she went into a coughing fit. Tony jumped to his feet, panicked and at loss as to what to do.

“Drink some water, Maria.” Peggy’s voice came from behind him, too tired and hoarse, but still confident with that tone which always made Tony feel like everything would be alright. Running a hand through his hair, Tony stepped back, feeling a little lost and pathetic at being useless. 

He watched Aunt Peggy help his mom drink some water with gentleness behind her moves, the slight trembling of her hands reminded Tony that she had just lost her best friend- and yet she seemed to hold it all in, her movements bordering on an explosion that waited to go off.

And with that, Tony knew there was something he did not know. 

“Go take some fresh air, sweetheart.” Aunt Peggy cut through him just as he opened his mouth to ask the questions that were at the tip of his tongue.Her voice was soft, but the lines on her face told Tony that this was not a suggestion, but rather an order.

His shoulders slumped, defeated, as he never had the heart to question her, and stalked out of the room slowly, trying to fight down the tears that threatened to come. It was just beginning to sink in that his father, however distant and judging, was no longer alive. He had been able to deny the truth when his mother woke up, when she smiled at him like she always did, but he could no longer deny it when he saw Aunt Peggy with eyes full of unshed tears.

“Steve.” He sniffled, still determined not to cry even when it was obvious he was on the edge, and clutched his hands into his jacket when he saw him standing outside the hospital with a distant look in his eyes. He knew, too. He knew what Tony didn’t, what Tony wasn’t being told. 

Tony remembered this look, when he had first met Steve- he was no more than a annoying seven year old, and even he, a smart but clueless kid, had recognised the sense of loss in his clear blue eyes. They were, like then, clouded. It had been when Steve was first found, and the distance in his eyes had vanished momentarily when he had seen Howard and Peggy walk into the room.

And, Steve had been his hero ever since, and even before that.To see him like this, broken and conflicted, and knowing there was a reason beyond his father’s untimely death, was like a punch to the gut. 

“It’s going to be alright, kid.” Kissing his hair and holding him closer, Steve ignored the unvoiced question in Tony’s eyes, and Tony took rejection as it is.

His usual reaction would be _‘I’m not a kid’_ , followed by Steve’s ruffling of his hair and laughter on both sides, maybe Howard’s strict but fond looks thrown at them, and Aunt Peggy’s open delight when she saw them happy, or his mother scolding Steve for spoiling Tony too much. And upon that, Jarvis would bring his famous cookies.

These things would be shadowed now, he knew it. He felt it. This was’t a simple accident.

All of a sudden, his nostrils flared and his heart started beating faster, pulling himself away- wrenching himself away from Steve as his anger got the best of him, not being told anything when it was obviously important- they did not have the right. It was his father, too. He deserved to know.

“You’ll see, I’ll find out.” Steve’s shocked- worried looks turned into a frown, an almost-warning.

“Tony, there are things you don’t understand-”

“Fuck that, Steve.”

“You need to be protected.” He reached out, but Tony just shook his head.

“Yeah, good luck with that.” He spit out, turning away from him and storming into the hospital hall, the particular and sharp smell of disinfectants making him grimace. His rather abrupt entrance made the help desk lady look up with a disapproving face, so Tony slowed his steps apologetically. 

He stopped dead in his tracks when he suddenly came face to face with a man as he took a turn. Face to chest, rather, as man was tall, and was dressed all in black. The first thing Tony noticed was the arm that shone. His eyes widened in fascination, and he was hit with a sense of familiarity that he couldn’t place. Looking up, he was met with gray-blue eyes that promised danger and long, disheveled dark hair that covered most of the man’s pale face.

The man’s eyes seemed to wear an unreadable and cruel expression, locked into the brown of Tony’s eyes as the man spoke. 

“Move.” 

Great. This was going to be the best day ever. 

He scoffed.

“You move, asshole.” 

The man frowned, tilted his head in a confused manner, and his eyes turned more blue, lost in their confusion, and Tony suddenly thought of a wet puppy. The man took a step to the side, making way for Tony.

Well, this wasn’t at all what Tony expected. The man looked dangerous, someone that one should not mess with, and Tony was ready to mess with him in hopes that he would have something to distract himself, as he was just as reckless as his family and Rhodey accused him of being. 

The man kept looking at him intently, making Tony squirm under the intense gaze, he was disturbed by how he felt like he knew him.

“Tony, honey.”

He turned his head sharply, heart beating fast, as if he was afraid of being caught doing something he most definitely shouldn’t do, when he didn’t do anything at all.

He looked back to the spot where the man was just standing, now just the disturbingly white wall stood in all its simplicity, not a trace of the mystery man.

“Tony?” Peggy called out again. “Your mom wants to see you.”

Tony nodded back at her, shoulders slumped again, going back into the hospital room- his head now filled with more questions and the image of the shining metal arm.

*****

_Three months later_

Spitting out the blood that filled his mouth, Tony slumped against the dirty alley wall, hitting the floor with a thump as he struggled to breathe. The gritty texture of the wall hurt his back, and blood continued flowing from his nose. 

He looked up, defiant.

“Tell me… about the time my father fired you for stealing from him, Victor.” Tony breathed out between coughs. “Were you angry?” His attempt to get up was met with yet another kick in his direction, and he felt like he was getting somewhere, because this man definitely did have anger issues.

“Angry enough to,” another cough, “…murder him?”

Even in the darkness of the alley, the man’s evil smirk, the sharp contrast of his white teeth against his long red hair was visible. He hauled Tony up by his collar, and leaned in till their faces were only a few inches apart. 

“Kid, you think going after every one of your father’s enemies will give you a way out of your daddy issues? He is _dead_. You better move on or someone ain’t gonna be as nice as me.”

Tony thought the definition of nice had changed when he wasn’t looking, because he was literally hurting everywhere. 

Meanwhile, the man looked at him and licked his lips with an motive Tony definitely recognised behind his eyes. 

“Let me go, right _now_.”

“Just offering you a way out of your daddy issues, princess.” Getting uncomfortably closer, the man’s lips lingered near Tony’s ear, his breath ghosting against his neck.

Tony knew this was all intimidation, probably, maybe, but he started shivering at the predatory look in the man’s eyes.

He closed his eyes, and relayed all his anger into the kick he delivered right into his groin, the man letting out a pained cry as he stumbled backwards, Tony landing on his ass once again. He spit in the man’s general direction, an impulsive move on his part since he was in no way strong enough to fight someone, let alone a man his size. 

The man scrambled to his feet. He snickered. 

“ _Now_ you’ve done it.” He lunged for Tony.

The man growled. Tony opened his eyes.

It wasn’t the man who growled, but someone else.

The ginger man was no longer lunging for Tony- he wasn’t even in a position to attack anyone, as he was clammed to the wall opposite Tony with a knife sticking into his jugular, blood spouting in unrhythmic movements. 

Tony’s eyes widened in fear, mixed with understanding and acceptance when he saw the shiny arm glinting in the dark of the night, with a man heaving beside the now dead body.

He attempted to get back on his feet when the man with the metal arm stalked forward towards him.

The man bent down, his eyes locked into Tony’s like the first time they’ve met, and scooped him up effortlessly bridal style, Tony’s hands weakly clutching into the fabric of the man’s shirt- a shirt, he noted, not leather gear.

“You need to be more careful, solnyshko. These streets are not safe for someone so small.”

Tony couldn’t find it in himself to fight off the man and struggle to get away, since his instincts seemed to incline towards passing out instead of getting himself out of the obviously dangerous situation- but his heart was a different story altogether, because the man didn’t seem like his aim was to hurt Tony, and Tony believed it. 

Not like it could be worse.

“…’m not small.” He mumbled instead, hands still clutching to the man’s shirt, as he finally let go and let sleep take him.

*****

When he woke up, he was bandaged and clean, with fresh clothes. He was in his dorm room. Deposited on the couch and with a blanket over him, he felt warm but still in agony as his sides hurt like hell when he tried to move.

The mystery man was in the kitchen, and he had his back turned to Tony, which gave Tony a chance to think over what he was supposed to do. He reached for the abandoned knife on the table, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through his torso.

“You can keep the knife, if it makes you feel safe. I couldn’t find a bigger one.” 

The man still hadn’t turned his back, but apparently his senses were sharp enough that he could detect Tony’s movements, and apparently he had put the knife there.

The knife clanged against the table as Tony put it back, considering he was in no way to engage in hand-to-hand combat, no matter how hard Steve had tried to teach him all the ways to fight someone in every fucking situation. 

Aunt Peggy had tried, too. Tony was just really dead-set on using his wits to get out of situations he found himself in. 

The man turned, his eyes fixated on the knife, his expression didn’t change but Tony could swear he caught a flicker of amusement somewhere in there.

“You will not need it. I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I’ve come to know that people who say that usually hurt me the most.” Tony shot back, trying to haul himself up a bit to be more comfortable, as his back was hurting from being in the same position for too long.

“I won’t let them anymore.”

Tony looked over to him, eyes vulnerable behind the challenging glare. 

“Who are you?” He breathed out in an almost desperate whisper, the familiarity he still couldn’t place making him uneasy.

The man considered it.

“Winter.”

“Winter.” Tony tasted the obviously fake name on his tongue. “I like it.”

Winter tilted his head to the side like he did months ago in the hospital, and Tony once again thought of a wet puppy who was lost.

That brought another question.

“Why were you in the hospital?”

“That is none of your business.”

“Wow, you don’t talk to too many people, do you? First you swear not to let anyone hurt me, and now you are being mean to me. I have to say I’m getting mixed signals here, muscles.” With that Tony was hit with the smell of tomato soup, his favourite soup, though he guessed that was just a coincidence, hopefully, and his stomach grumbled in protest. 

Yes, he could forget his questions for a while to appease his stomach and not die from starvation- because he just remembered that he hadn’t eaten in almost two days, and Jarvis’ disapproving face suddenly came to life in his mind.

Winter pulled up a chair as Tony delved into the soup, taking some bread from the tray and eating like, admittedly, a starving animal. 

Not moving a single muscle, Winter watched Tony swallow every spoon of soup, as if he looked away, Tony would disappear. 

“So, Winter.” Tony started, pulling the blanket to the side as he suddenly got too hot after the soup. “Why are you stalking me?”

Winter apparently had taste, because Tony had his Star Wars t-shirt on, his favourite, and the only thing he was wearing besides that was a pair of black briefs. Well, he guessed dignity was the last thing he needed to worry about now.

“You need to be protected.”

“God, you sound just like Steve.” Tony huffed out, rolling his eyes in exasperation. 

Winter tilted his head to the side.

“You look like a lost puppy.” Tony blurted out the image that had been on his mind since the first time he saw him. 

Winter, for the first time, smiled.Well, it was more like a twitch of lips, but Tony thought that would count. “Most people would argue that I look more like an overly dangerous assassin. Not a puppy.”

“Yeah, that too.” Tony allowed, noting the stubble and the disheveled look Winter had about him . And, muscles. Also, the killing a random guy in an alley thing. He _could_ be an assassin. “Are you?”

Winter looked at him with haunted eyes, the clouded and cruel look Tony remembered from hospital returning to his eyes. 

“I’m sorry.” Tony found himself saying. “Thank you. For saving me.”

“Always, kotenok.” Winter shot him another intense look, almost fond, but Tony couldn’t think about that now.

“What’s that mean?” Tony frowned, remembering another word whispered from the night before.

Winter ignored the question, his face serious again, eyes jumping to the window, and squinting.

“Stop getting into trouble. What you are looking for, you will not find it with them.”Winter’s warning tone was dark, almost menacing, as he got up to his feet. “Think of your mother, and people who love you. You are worth more alive than dead.”

That was the most Winter had ever said to him, and it did nothing to answer any of Tony’s questions, but settled an understanding in him.

“I will protect you, Anthony.”

Winter disappeared before Tony could ask him how he knew his name.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Solynyshko- small sun  
> Kotenok- kitten

**Author's Note:**

> Mio figlio- my son


End file.
